The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1887-12-24

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season, said the hunter, picking up his
game. 1t is little early for them.
Later on il will be no uncommon thing
to find them in flocks of ten or n dozen.
If you had flushed three pheasants as
those three owls were flushed, the noise
Of their wings could have been heard
for half mile, as you well know. You
might scare up three hundred of these
owls at once, and they would make
scarcely any more noise than so many
butterflies. GhostlY silence in flight
characterizes all species of owls. Hawks
fly noiselessly, too. These birds de-
pend on stealth in seeking their prey.
1t won't do for them to have any rustic
about their hunting. There is another
peculiar thing about the long-eared
owl. If you find them on piece of
stubble you will not find any other
game bird there, and, of course, if you
find quail you needn't look for owls.
The only way that can explain that
fact is that the owl knows instinctively
that the game bird is liable to be
hunted. and that consequently he can
hunt his own mice more securely if he
goes where the quail do not come. The
long-eared owl is favorite with col
lectors, its coat of cream color and
brown feathers seeming to be especially
admired.
1.-The rarest of all owls are the hawk
owl. the snowy owl and the long-eared
owl. The hawk owl | never saw in
Pennsylvania, but l have shot it in
Eastern New York and Connecticut.
There is little owl called the sawet,
which is sometimes plen tiful and some
times scarce. They are blind as bats
in the day time, and when dawn APP
proaches they go to roost in the first
place they come to. Consequently we
often see them sitting on fence rails,
window sills, gate posts and house
roofs, just as well as in the woods. 1t
is no new trick to knock them over with
stick at such times. There is a curl
GUS thing about the day-blind owls,
and that is that they are all summer
owls and go south on the approach of
cold weather.
1.-The great snow owl commands the
highest price from collectors. l have
sold especially fine specimens for twenty
dollars each. The boot owl, or horned
owl, is also highly priced. 1t remains
in this latitude all winter.
"Owls have a peculiar way of eating.
They swallow their food, bones and all.
By some process the bones, fur and
feathers are all rolled up in small balls
in the owls stomach. Some species of
hawk take their food and eject their
refuse in the same way. When was
boy it was great sport for me to search
in the woods to find trees under which
| could discover their elected balls.
That was sure indication that a
rough-legged hawk or some species of
owl made that tree its roosting place.
Taking long pole and fastening on
one end a stout steel trap, would bait
the trap with some mouse the birds
were fond of, and then push the trap
up in the branches of the tree and tie
the pole fast, l seldom failed to find
hawk or an owl fast in the trap
when l went to look after 1t. Once
l captured q magnificent snowy owl in
that way. He was uninj ured except
where the trap held its leg. After
great struggle-for q wounded owl
is one Of the worst customers to fool
with in the woods-I tied his legs to-
gether and his great wings down and
started proudly homeward with my
prize. l carried with me an old single
barreled gun. The time was in the fall,
and on my way home l laid the owl ON
the ground while l stopped to gather
some hickory nuts. While thus en-
gagged discovered number of yellow
jackets going in and out of u hole in
the ground. knew at once that the
hole was the entrance to a nest of these
lively insects. l took my gun and,
going close to the hole, fired into it and
took to my heels. Looking back after
had run safe distance, l saw the
yellow-jackets swarming angrily out
of their dismantlcd home. The sound
of the gun had startled the owl. and it
had fluttered about, bound as it was.
That flutter was fatal to it. The savage
bees saw the movement, and settled
down on the helpless bird until his coat
was as yellow us gold. Wherever the
creatures could find spot to sink
singer they sank ore, and in spite of
its bonds the poor owl rolled and tum-
bled about in agony. l reloaded my
gun and, creeping up behind fallen
tree, until was near enough almost to
touch the owl with the end of my gun
barrel, shot its head off, thus losing
my great prize through my boyish mis-
chief.
1T is the rule, believe, to condemn
all hawks and owls rs destructive ma
rauders of either the farm or woods,
preying on innocent and useful men,
bers of the feathered tribe entirely. So
general was that impression in Penn
sylvania that few years ago large
bounty was placed by law on the heads
of hawks and owls. But investigation
has shown that this idea is a fallacious
one, and so conclusively was it shown
in the State that at the last session OF